Toggle actuated plier-type wrench



Patented Nov. 13, 1951 U N I TE D Sflillll'S-I f OSF FIC E- TOGGLE ACTUATED PLllll-It--ZIYPEl WRENCH.

Glenn J. Waterbury, Los Angeles; Calif;

Application November 22, 1946;'SerialNo. '711.611`

(Ch 8-1L84i i 1 Claim.

This. invention relates to pliersA and more particularly to pliers having a toggle mechanism formed ina part. by one lever ofy the pliers for operating the movable jaw of the same.

This type 'of' pliers are so constructed that when the jaws areV placed about an article to be gripped by the pliers and the levers thereof brought together until the pivotal connection betweenthe,` linksforming the toggle are brought beyond a line joining the opposite ends of the links; Va contractile spring acts to hold the jaws in'grippng-relation with the article.

Pliers of this type have been in use for a considerable period land are widely used in many industries.` They are however subject to one criticism, that being the difficulty in opening the jawsoncethey have been clamped about an article. In the toggle pliers heretofore proposed it has been necessaryto use both hands to open the jaws which is sometimes awkward -or difcult todo because ofthe nature of the work being undertaken. Thus in instances-where the person using the pliers required one hand free to hold or'manipulate the article being gripped or other tools performing a work operation on the article', the pliers were extremely difcult if not-impossible to open.

The primaryobject of the present invention is to obviate the difficulty had with previouslyproposedpliers of this type by providing a pliers havingjmeansI for opening the jaws of the same which y' canbe actuated bygone hand of the user. This means in the nowpreferred embodiment ofthe present invention comprises an arm pivotally connected adjacent one end thereof to'the one link of'A the toggle mechanism and so formed at that end thatfmovement of the arm in onedirection 'applies' a magnified breaking force tonne link of the toggle mechanism.

The portion of the arm adjacent the pivotal 2 l togglv mechanism. to break the latter and, open the pliers merely by squeezing the arm and this lever inthe one hand.

Itwill thus beseen that the primary feature and advantage of the pliers of the present inventionA consists in the ability of the same to be opened bythe one hand of a user while retaining all 'ofthedesired characteristics of this type of pliers..

Otherfeatures and advantages of theY pliers of the. present invention will beA apparent from the following detailed f description taken in connectionwith theV accompanying drawing in which:V

Figure' 1 isan elevational view of pliers embodying the present invention partly in section to more clearly illustrate the same and showing connection between the` latter andthe one link of illustrated the camlacts against the lever of the pliers forming a link of the toggle mechanism, when the'armv is swung about its pivotal connection to the other link of the toggle mechanism, to move thev toggle mechanism intor a position in which theA spring will open they jaws of the pliers The arm is carried intermediate-'the two-levers of the pliers and does not complicatel or render awkwardthe normaluse of .thepliers Thefarm is quiteeasy to neef-for it may be moved `toward thelever ofthe pliernot forming a part-ofthe the plierswith the jaws thereof locked about an article;

Figure 2 isa view somewhat like Figure l but showing the pliers after the arm has been moved to open the jaws; Y

Figure 3v is-a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of ll*"i`g1-1-re2;`-and Figure 4 is a plan view of the arm.

The pliers-of the present invention, referring now tothe-drawing, comprises a lever IB forming a handle'for-a jaw II which due to the normal'action'of the pliers will be hereinafter referred 'to rasthe fixed jaw. The lever IIJ may be-formedeoffsome suitable metal in any manner desired but asclearly shown in Figure 3 is channel-shaped throughout its intermediate portion as wellv as atf the end carrying the jaw I I.

Thejawl I is-facecl with a hard metal plate I2 provided -With teethor serrations along the work engaging face thereof. The plate forming the work engaging element of the jaw is welded or otherwiseJ securely and permanently fixed to the `jaw: I'I.

The movable-:jaw I3 of the pliers comprises a casting, -drop- Vforging or some similarly formed members/rA This jawispivotally anchored to. and between the flanges of the lever Ill by a suitable pivot-:epinwlki At'thefree end of the jaw I3, a wor-keengaging:` lplate I5 having a serrated face is mounted for cooperation with the serrated plated''of.' the fixed jaw I I. The plate I5, like the plate I2f is formed of some hardened steel suitable-1 for-the `intended Apurpose of the plates.

The movable/jaw I3 is actuated by means of anooperating.mechanism comprising an articulatedmember consisting of a lever I6 pivotally connectedat-*the-fone--end` thereof to an ear formedintegralwith the jaw I3` and at itsoppositefendfftoffone'end of` a link I1 pivotally connected at its opposite end to the lever Il), and a coil tension spring I8. The spring is anchored at one end to the lever I and at its opposite end to the jaw I3 at a point spaced from the pin I4 and normally tends to urge the jaw I3 away from the xed jaw I I.

The lever I6 is formed with an extension IGa which serves as a handle member to be used in conjunction with the handle formed by the lever I0. The one end of the lever I6 is pivotally connected to the rear portion of the jaw I3 by a pin I9 spaced from the pin I4. As the link I1 is pivotally connected to the lever I6 intermediate the ends thereof by a pin 2| the link and the lever I6 form a toggle mechanism operated by the free or handle end of the lever I6. i y

The free end of the link I'I is formed with a smooth walled socket for receiving the substantially spherical end of a boss 22 carried by the end face of a threaded stud 23. The free end of the lever i9 is formed as an internally threaded sleeve 2d for receiving the stud for axial movement upon rotation of the latter. It will now be seen that the fulcrum of the link I'I on lever I0 can be adjusted longitudinally of the latter by merely rotating the knurled head 25 of the threaded stud 23 to thereby adjustably shift the location of the base of reaction of the link il. Furthermore, it should be also apparent that adjustment of the fulcrum of the link I1 on the lever Ic by means of the stud 23 will act to adjust the angular position of the movable jaw I3 relative to the fixed jaw II and thus permit accommodation of work pieces of different thickness.

To hold the end of the link II between the ilanges of the lever I9, the link Il' is formedv with oppositely directed ears or lugs 26 for engagement with retaining members formed by laterally deforming the edges of the iianges of the lever II?. The members 21 define a slot of a width slightly greater than the thickness of the link I'I so that the link can move freely during use of the pliers.

Although the spring I8 will normally rock the jaw I3 clockwise about the pin I4 and thus hold the jaws separated, due to the location of the pivotal connection between the lever I6 and the link I'I relative to the pivotal connection between the lever I6 and the movable jaw |3,when the lever I is swung toward the lever I3, the pin 2| will move beyond a line passing through the pin I9 and the fulcrum point of the link I'I on the lever I@ and the spring will then serve to move the jaw I3 in a counterclockwise direction into good gripping relationship with the fixed jaw.

To limit movement of the jaw I3 toward the jaw H just after the pin 2| has moved beyond the line passing through the pin |9 and the fulcruxn point of the link I1 on the lever I0, that is after the toggle mechanism has just passed its dead center position, the link I1 is formed -With a stop 23 in the form of a lug which engages the inner face of the lever I6 and prevents further movement of the link.

The spring now acts to hold the jaws in good gripping engagement with the work piece and resists movement of the lever I6 away from the lever ID. Although this resistance tends to prevent the jaws from being accidentally separated it complicates the opening of the pliers in that it is necessary to grasp the one lever in one hand while the second lever is grasped by the other hand after which the levers can be pulled apart until the toggle mechanism moves past its dead center position. It will be seen that actually the same force must be expended in opening the jaws as is expended in closing the jaws. Although this feature is desirable as it prevents accidental dislodgement of the pliers from an article gripped by the jaws it does render the opening of the pliers difficult and the opening operation requires both hands of the user.

To facilitate opening the jaws, the present invention provides means for applying a force to the toggle mechanism to move the same past the dead center position to open the jaws through the use of but one hand of the user. Thus with the pliers engaging a work piece the same can be released by operation of the means by the one hand of the user so that the other hand of the user may be entirely free for manipulation of the work piece or other tools engaging or performing operations on the work piece.

Although this means may take different forms, in the now preferred embodiment of the invention the means comprises a bifurcated arm 29 pivotally connected adjacent the one end thereof by a pin 3| to the link I? so as to lie intermediate `the levers I9 and I6. The tines of the arm adjacent the pivotal connection effected by the pin 3| are formed with cam faces 32 which, when the outer end of the arm 23 is moved toward the handle or lever IIJ, apply an outwardly directed force against the handle or lever I S adjacent the pin 2|. The movement given to the lever I6 is sufficient to move the same to a position relative to the link I in which the axis of the connection effected by the pin 2| is disposed outwardly of the line joining the pin I9 and the fulcrum of the link I'I on lever I0. As has been explained, this movement of the links forming the toggle mechanism causes the spring I 8 to move the jaw I3 in a clockwise direction and the jaws are moved apart.

As the lever for-med by the portion of the arm 29 between the free end thereof and the pin 3| will in eiTect magnify any force applied to the free end of the arm 29, the force necessary to move the pin 2| past dead center of the toggle mechanism to open the pliers can be had by the application of a much smaller force to the free end of thearm 29. This in itself simplies opening of the pliers of the present invention as a much smaller force is required to open the jaws than is required to close the jaws.

To further facilitate opening of the pliers the free end of the arm 29 is provided with an enlarged terminal portion 33 which forms an easily manipulated iinger hold. Thus to open the pliers a user may grasp the lever or handle I0 in the one hand and by the use of but one finger of that hand grasping the hold 33 pull the arm 29 toward the handle I0 and open the pliers.

Although the now preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described herein it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereto for it is susceptible to changes in form and detail within the scope of the appended claim. For instance, the arm 29 need not be mounted to the link I'I for actually the arm could be mounted to the handle IIJ and operate to open the toggle in the same manner as does the arm in the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

I claim:

A tool of the type described, comprising: a handle having a fixed jaw integral therewith; a -movable jaw pivotally attached to the handle to s move relative to the fixed jaw and having an ear spaced from the pivotal attachment between the jaw and said handle; toggle means, including two pivotally interconnected, elongate members, the free end of one member being pivotally connected to said ear, the free end of the other member being pivotally connected to said handle; a tension spring having one end fixed to said ear and having the other end xed to said handle whereby said movable jaw normally tends to move away from said fixed jaw; an extension carried by the toggle member pivotally connected to said ear forming a handle substantially coextensive with said first-named handle, and cooperative therewith to move said toggle means, as a user squeezes said handles together, to a position in which said tension spring will urge the movable jaw toward said fixed jaw; an arm; a pair of tines outwardly extending from one end of said arm; and means for pivotally connecting said tines in a, straddling relationship to the toggle member connected to said rst-named handle whereby said arm is disposed intermediate said handles for swinging movement between the same, the free ends of said tines being formed 6 with curved faces movable into engagement with the handle-forming extension of the other toggle member and adapted to apply a force against said extension as the opposite end of the arm is moved toward said first-named handle to urge said toggle means to a position in which the tension spring will urge the movable jaw away from said xed jaw.

GLENN J. WATERBURY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 952,079 McIntire Mar. 15, 1910 1,489,458 Petersen Apr. 8, 1924 2,201,918 Petersen May 21, 1940 2,443,153 Wells June 8, 1948 2,462,709 Ball Feb. 22, 1949 2,500,261 Parker Mar. 14, 1950 2,514,130 Jones July 4, 1950 2,523,385 Mead Sept. 26, 1950 

